


Mystery of the Missing Ace

by Stacysmash



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Camping, Fluff and Humor, Fukurodani Shenanigans, Gen, Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, for the HQ Summer Camp Zine, just friendships, no ships, silly spookiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27306559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacysmash/pseuds/Stacysmash
Summary: Fukurodani's volleyball team are just settling in for the evening at their campsite when they notice the absence of their troublesome captain. Searching the surrounding woods for him, however, proves to be more trouble than they could possibly imagine...
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Mystery of the Missing Ace

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to the HQ Summer Camp Zine! It's still available for a free download on their [Twitter](https://twitter.com/HQ_campzine) and their [Tumblr](https://hq-campzine.tumblr.com/)!

It was a magical time of day as the sun steadily dipped below the tree line, painting the sky in warm hues of orange, pink, and purple. Birdsong was replaced with the chirping of cicadas and the rustling of leaves in the cool evening breeze. The little patch of wilderness was a sanctuary for the woodland animals to wander through the trees and out into the clearing beside the lake whenever they pleased. On occasion, however, their peace was destroyed by a different kind of creature.

_ Crack _

An uproar of laughter filled the clearing where a group of students were circled around a campfire. One figure stomped away from a heap of billowy material and flopped on a log.

“Who designed these things?!” Komi groaned, glaring at Sarukui who had marshmallow stuck to his lips.

Yukie laughed. “They make them pretty fool-proof these days. Even Bokuto got his put together,” she said, smirking as she pointed over her shoulder at a completely erect tent.

“No way! Akaashi probably put it together for him.”

“I did not. I’ve been on marshmallow duty ever since the fire was built since apparently no one else can toast them right. Speaking of Bokuto-san though…” Akaashi straightened up and handed the golden marshmallow to Kaori as he glanced around the circle. “Where is he?”

A foreboding silence fell over the group as they all glanced at each other. Washio stood up without a word and wandered over to Bokuto’s tent to look inside. Silence reigned over the campsite until he turned around and shook his head. They all groaned. 

“Konoha-san, I believe you were on Bokuto-watch duty, were you not?”

Every head whirled in his direction.

“I was but then I had to pee, so I left Yukie in charge!”

Everyone turned toward her, and she rolled her eyes.

“I was in charge while you were gone which took you, what, five seconds?”

“That wasn’t in our verbal agreement.”

“Yes, it was! You said  _ Yukie, can you watch Bokuto while I pee _ . Unless you’re still urinating and we don’t know it, then you’re still currently on Bokuto duty.”

Akaashi sighed and gazed out at the trees, looking for any kind of movement. They had all agreed that no one was allowed to wander off, but Bokuto was never the type to remember simple rules like that. Camping was one of his favorite things to do outside of volleyball. 

He glanced over his shoulder at the horizon. The sun was nearly down and soon it would be completely dark. They had to act fast.

“Alright, here’s what we need to do. We’ll separate into small groups and search the area. I don’t think I need to remind you all of this, but please do not get lost.”

“Yes, we know.”

“We’re not as dumb as Bokuto.”

Akaashi grimaced as he watched them all slowly get to their feet, muttering under their breaths. “That remains to be seen.”

— 

“Bokuto! Bokuto, seriously, if you can hear us, answer us!”

Komi groaned when there was no answer except his own voice echoing off the surrounding trees. In the distance, he could hear the other groups calling as well which meant that they hadn’t found him either. His breath hitched when Washio stepped next to him and he clutched at his throbbing chest.

“Don’t do that! You scared me.”

Washio glared down at him. “You are too easy to scare.”

“I am not! It’s dark and creepy. Wait— what’s that sound?”

They both fell quiet, glancing around at a mysterious noise. It sounded like some animal devouring its food, licking and smacking its lips together. Goosebumps fluttered across Komi’s skin and sharing a look with Washio, he could tell that the sound disturbed him too. Who knew what kind of beast it was and if it enjoyed  _ volleyball players _ as much as it did its current food?

“Why’d we stop?”

Komi and Washio stiffened and whirled around, pointing their flashlights in Sarukui’s face. He screamed and shielded his eyes, but he continued sticking his fingers in his mouth to get every morsel of marshmallow off.

“You idiot! Make less noise.”

“I’m not the one screaming!”

“He has a point.”

“Ugh, let’s just keep going. Someone must have found something by now.”

— 

“There’s a lot of screaming and shouting going on,” Kaori whispered, giggling nervously. She glanced next to her at Yukie who smirked back at her.

“Those idiots are just scaring each other. Akaashi is probably the only one taking this seriously.”

“Aren’t you? Anything could happen to Bokuto out here.”

“Nah, he’s simple minded but he’s not  _ that _ much of an idiot that he’d get hurt.”

“But what about wild animals?”

“I doubt he’ll run into anything more frightening than a squirrel.” Yukie frowned and narrowed her eyes back at her. “Why are you so nervous? Are you worried about Bokuto or are you scared of the dark?”

“I’m not scared of the dark! I mean, I’m a little scared wandering around the woods at night. They make horror films about this stuff!”

“And you’ve seen too many. Nothing’s going to hap—”

Kaori stopped when Yukie didn’t finish her sentence, also noticing that she was no longer beside her. She looked back over her shoulder to see Yukie pointing her flashlight into some nearby bushes. It was her tense expression that set Kaori on edge.

“What is it? Did you see something?” Kaori whispered as she crept to her side.

“I’m not sure. I thought I saw some movement. Probably just a bird.” Even as she said it, she winced, listening to the complete lack of birdsong around them. Soft footsteps pattered by to their right and they both spun around, but the light only caught a shadow, and then it was gone. 

Kaori’s heart was pounding as she clamped her hands over her mouth, trying to keep her breaths silent. It didn’t help that Yukie was starting to grow nervous as well and together they kept glancing around at every little noise. There was a  _ snap _ on the other side of the clearing and Yukie turned toward it. Somewhere within the surrounding woods, a haunting howl flowed through the trees, turning Kaori’s skin to ice. 

_ It’s just the wind… it’s just the wind… _

Something growled behind them, followed by a rustling sound and they whirled around in terror. The light fell upon a large, furry mound sitting on a rock. Its furry head lifted, eyes surrounded by rings of dark fur caught the light and glowed iridescently. Claws scraped hard on a nut, and it bared its fangs at them with a spitty hiss.

Yukie and Kaori screamed and took off in the other direction, heading straight back to the campsite without any lingering thoughts of Bokuto.

— 

“What the  _ hell _ is wrong with them?” Konoha said, kicking stone off the path. “We haven’t even been searching for five minutes and they’re all screaming and yelling.”

Onaga laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Um, do you think they’re okay?”

“They’re fine, just being stupid. What do you think, Akaashi? …  _ Akaashi _ ?”

Akaashi was staring hard at the base of a tree, shining his flashlight around the area. Since he was lost in his own world, Konoha put his finger to his lips and motioned for Onaga to follow him to Akaashi’s side. No sooner had they joined him and Akaashi gasped, pouncing on a tree root and standing right back up with something in his hand.

“Bokuto-san was here,” he whispered, holding out his palm so they could see a broken keychain with an owl hanging from it.

“He loves that keychain… how did he lose it?” Onaga asked, looking around for any sign of his captain.

Akaashi hummed and pointed the light up at the tree. The beam paused when it revealed a bit of mud against the bark. Akaashi’s eyes widened and he moved the light a little more, illuminating several tree limbs that had smaller branches snapped off of it. 

“What do you think happened?” Onaga asked softly, worried about interrupting Akaashi’s mind while in the midst of piecing things together. 

“I’m not certain, but it’s possible—” he paused, his lips parting with a sharp intake of breath. “We need to get back to the campsite…  _ now _ .”

Before they could question him, Akaashi spun on his heel and jogged down the path. Konoha grabbed Onaga’s arm and pulled him forward, desperate to catch up with Akaashi before they lost him too.

“Akaashi, slow down! What’s the hurry?”

“It all makes sense to me now.”

“Good. Mind sharing your thoughts so it makes sense to us too?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Bokuto climbed that tree and must have bumped against it, and that’s how his keychain broke.”

“Good work, Sherlock. But where is he now?”

“He’s—” 

“Whhaaaaaaa!” 

Konoha and Onaga grabbed Akaashi and held him in place to keep him from being run over by Yukie and Kaori. They skidded to a stop and grabbed onto each other, screaming again. Luckily, Yukie recognized them quickly and calmed down.

“Kaori! It’s okay, it’s the guys.”

“Ugh, don’t scare us like that!”

Onaga cleared his throat. “It sounds like you guys were already scared though?” 

“Watch it, we can’t all be giants like you,” Yukie replied, twisting her lips to the side. “We could have gotten hurt!”

Akaashi stepped forward and pointed his light at their arms and legs. “You seem to be okay. What frightened you?”

They both winced and looked away, but it was Yukie who spoke first. “It was a tanuki.”

Konoha snorted. “Isn’t that your favorite animal?”

“It wasn’t a normal tanuki! It was an evil one.”

“Right.”

Akaashi sighed and turned away from them. “I’m glad you’re fine, but we need to keep moving.”

“Why? What happened?” Kaori asked, but Akaashi was already back on the move. They chased after him, soon joined by Washio, Komi, and Sarukui, and the entire group soon flooded back into the clearing. Emerging on the other side of the tents, they all filtered between them until they ended up at the campfire, staring dumbfounded at Bokuto who was lounging on one of the logs.

He grinned at all of them and lifted his stick out of the fire, the marshmallow on the end flaming like a torch. “Hey guys! Where did you go?”

“Where did  _ we _ go?!”

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Put that marshmallow out before you catch yourself on fire!”

Bokuto rolled his eyes and blew out the torched marshmallow. “Relax, guys. You worry too much.”

Akaashi was the first to wander around the campfire, choosing a spot next to Bokuto. “We had plenty of sticks already, Bokuto-san, you didn’t need to get more.”

“Yeah, but I found longer ones! You kept coughing from the smoke, so this way you can sit further back. Here, this one’s ready,” he said, tipping the end of the stick near Akaashi.

Konoha scoffed. “What are you doing? Nobody likes them like that!”

“Akaashi does.”

Before anyone could tease him further, Akaashi smiled and peeled the burnt marshmallow casing off, leaving the rest behind on the stick. They all gawked as he stuffed it in his mouth and hummed.

“Mmm, perfect. Thank you, Bokuto-san. I found your keychain, by the way.”

“Thanks! I didn’t even realize it was missing.”

Exhausted, the rest of the team dragged their feet back to the campfire and flopped around it. Bokuto seemed to be the only one brimming with energy as he bounced on the log. 

“Oh, Komi! I saw your tent wasn’t up yet, so I went ahead and set it up for you.”

Komi spun around and perked up at the sight of his fully assembled tent. “Hey! Thanks, man!”

“Sure! And Yukie, I found some berries while I was walking around with the sticks and picked some for you.” He reached behind him and grabbed a little cup, shaking it so the berries bounced around inside. “Don’t worry, these ones are good. Not poisonous or anything.”

Yukie squealed and reached her hands out for them, immediately popping one in her mouth. “Yummy! Thanks, Captain!”

Bokuto preened and stuck the remnants of Akaashi’s marshmallow back in the flames. “No problem.”

The atmosphere around the fire was immediately lifted and soon chatter and laughter once again permeated the quiet night. Akaashi resumed marshmallow duty at a comfortable distance from the fire. As he handed lightly toasted marshmallows to his teammates, Bokuto handed him charred ones, done just as he liked them.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi murmured, waiting until he had Bokuto’s undivided attention before continuing. “Try not to wander off anymore, okay? Believe it or not, it’s too chaotic in your absence.”

Bokuto blinked his golden eyes at him, seeming a little confused. Whether he worked through it or simply gave up, he finally shrugged. 

“Sure! Does this mean I need to bring someone with me when I need to pee?”

“Yes, it’s necessary. There are evil tanuki wandering around, after all.”

“Oh, okay,” Bokuto chuckled, gazing back at the fire. 

Akaashi frowned as his eyes widened suddenly, the reflection of the flames within them enhancing their intensity. He turned back to Akaashi, the quick movement capturing everyone’s attention.

“I missed a tanuki?!” 

Everyone groaned in unison and without a word, Washio stood up to fetch some extra rope.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's following my Kurodai Merlin AU series, I have finished the final chapter of the latest installment! I just need to edit it and then I'll be posting it, not sure when it's going to happen b/c craziness is about to befall me but rest assured it won't be too long.


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